every nerve to bring back the souls they were about to lose. But there was in the new preaching a harmony with Scripture and a hidden force that won all hearts, and subdued even the most rebellious. At the peril of their goods, and of their life if need be, they ranged themselves on the side of the Gospel, and forsook the barren and fanatical orators of the papacy.' 1 Sometimes the people, incensed at being so long misled, compelled them to retire; more frequently the priests, deserted by their flocks, without tithes or offerings, departed voluntarily and in sadness to seek a livelihood elsewhere. 2 And while the supporters of the ancient hierarchy retired from these places sorrowful and dejected, and sometimes bidding farewell to their old flocks in the language of anathema, the people, whom truth and liberty transported with joy, surrounded the new preachers with acclamations, and, thirsting for the Word of God, carried them as it were in triumph into the church and into the pulpit. 3 A word of power, proceeding from God, was at that time regenerating society. The people, or their leaders, would frequently invite some man celebrated for his faith to come and enlighten them; and he for love of the Gospel, would immediately abandon his interests and his family, his country and friends. Persecution often compelled the partisans of the Reformation to leave their homes: they reached some spot where it was as yet unknown; there they would find some house that offered an asylum to poor travellers; there they would speak of the Gospel, read a chapter to the attentive hearers, and perhaps, by the intercession of their new friends, obtain permission to preach ence publicly in the church......Then indeed a fierce fire would break out in the city, and the greatest exertions were ineffectual to quench it. 5 If they could not preach in the church, they found some other spot. Every place became a temple. At Husum in Holstein, Hermann Tast, who was returning from Wittemberg, and against whom the clergy of the parish had closed the church doors, preached to an immense crowd in the cemetery, beneath the shade of two large trees, not far from the spot where, seven centuries before, Anschar had proclaimed the Gospel to the heathen. At Arnstadt, Gaspard Güttel, an Augustine monk, preached in the market-place. At Dantzic, the Gospel was announced on a little hill without the city. At Gosslar, a Wittemberg student taught the new doctrines in a meadow planted with lime-trees; whence the evangelical Populo odibiles catholici concionatores. Cochlous, p. 52. 2 Ad extremam redacti inopiam, aliunde sibi victum quærere cogerentur. Ibid. p. 53. 3 Triumphantibus novis prædicatoribus qui sequacem populum verbo novi Evangelif sui ducebant. Ibid. Multi, omissa re domestica, in speciem veri Evangelil, parentes et amicos relinquebant. Ibid. Si vero aliquos nacti fuissent aicos in ea civitate.... 101 54 Christians were denominated the Lime-trea Brethren. While the priests were exhibiting their sordid covetousness before the eyes of the people, the new preachers said to them, Freely we have received, freely do we 64 give.' 1 The idea often expressed by the new preachers from the pulpit, that Rome had formerly sent the Germans a corrupted Gospel, so that now for the first time Germany heard the Word of Christ in its heavenly and primal beauty, produced a deep impression on men's minds. And the noble thought of the equality of all men, of a universal brotherhood in Jesus Christ, laid strong hold upon those souls which for s long a period had groaned beneath the yoke of feudalism and of the papacy of the Middle Ages. 3 Often would unlearned Christians, with the New Testament in their hands, undertake to justify the doctrine of the Reformation. The catholics who remained faithful to Rome withdrew in affright; for to priests and monks alone had been assigned the task of studying sacred literature. The latter were therefore compelled to come forward; the conference began; but erelong, overwhelmed by the declarations of Holy Scripture cited by these laymen, the priests and monks knew not how to reply.". happily," says Cochlous," Luther had persuaded his followers to put no faith in any other oracle than the Holy Scriptures." A shout was raised in the assembly, denouncing the scandalous ignorance of these old theologians, who had hitherto been reputed such great scholars by their own party. "Un Men of the lowest station, and even the weaker sex, with the aid of God's Word, persuaded and led away men's hearts. Extraordinary works are the result of extraordinary times. At Ingolstadt, under the eyes of Dr. Eck, a young weaver read Luther's works to the assembled crowd. In this very city, the university having resolved to compel a disciple of Melancthon to retract, a woman, named Argula de Staufen, undertook his defence, and challenged the doctors to a public disputation. Women and children, artisans and soldiers, knew more of the Bible than the doctors of the schools or the priests of the altars. Christendom was divided into two hostile bodies, and their aspects were strikingly contrasted. Opposed to the old champions of the hierarchy, who had neglected the study of languages and the cultivation of literature (as one of their own body informs us), were generous-minded youths, devoted to study, investigating Scripture, and familiarizing themselves with the masterpieces of anti 1 Mira els erat liberalitas. Cochleus, p. 53. 2 Eam usque diem nunquam Germane prædicatam. Ibld. 3 Omnes æquales et fratres in Christo. Ibid. 4 A laicis Lutheranis, plures Scripturæ locos, quam a monachis et presbyteris. Ibid. p. 54. 5 Reputabantur catholici ab illis ignarl Scripturarum 11. quity. Possessing an active mind, an ele-spirit showed itself for the first time without vated soul, and intrepid heart, these young alloy, and at the very moment of its birth men soon acquired such knowledge, that for received the baptism of fire from christian a long period none could compete with them. enthusiasm. It was not only the vitality of their faith which rendered them superior to their contemporaries, but an elegance of style, a perfume of antiquity, a sound philosophy, a knowledge of the world, completely foreign to the theologians "of the old leaven," as Cochleus himself terms them. Accordingly, when these youthful defenders of the Reformation met the Romish doctors in any assembly, they attacked them with such ease and confidence, that these ignorant men hesitated, became embarrassed, and fell into a contempt merited in the eyes of all. What Luther and his friends composed others circulated. Monks, convinced of the unlawfulness of monastic obligations, and desirous of exchanging a long life of slothfulness for one of active exertion, but too ignorant to proclaim the Word of God, travelled through the provinces, visiting hamlets and cottages, where they sold the books of Luther and his friends. Germany soon swarmed with these bold colporteurs. Printers and booksellers eagerly welcomed every writing in defence of the Reformation; but they rejected the books of the opposite party, The ancient edifice was crumbling under as generally full of ignorance and barbarism.3 the load of superstition and ignorance; the If any one of them ventured to sell a book new one was rising on the foundations of in favour of the papacy, and offered it for faith and learning. New elements entered sale in the fairs at Frankfort or elsewhere, deep into the lives of the people. Torpor merchants, purchasers, and men of letters and dulness were in all parts succeeded by a overwhelmed him with ridicule and sarcasm. spirit of inquiry and a thirst for instruction. It was in vain that the emperor and princes An active, enlightened, and living faith took had published severe edicts against the writthe place of superstitious devotion and ascetic ings of the reformers. As soon as an inquimeditations. Works of piety succeeded bi-sitorial visit was to be paid, the dealers, who goted observances and penances. The pulpit prevailed over the ceremonies of the altar; and the ancient and sovereign authority of God's Word was at length restored in the Church. The printing-press, that powerful machine discovered in the fifteenth century, came to the support of all these exertions, and its terrible missiles were continually battering the walls of the enemy. The impulse which the Reformation gave to popular literature in Germany was immense. Whilst in the year 1513 only thirtyfive publications had appeared, and thirtyseven in 1517, the number of books increased with astonishing rapidity after the appearance of Luther's theses. In 1518 we find seventy-one different works; in 1519, one hundred and eleven; in 1520, two hundred and eight; in 1521, two hundred and eleven; in 1522, three hundred and forty-seven; and in 1523, four hundred and ninety-eight...... And where were all these published? For the most part at Wittemberg. And who were their authors? Generally Luther and his friends. In 1522 one hundred and thirty of the reformer's writings were published; and in the year following, one hundred and eighty-three. In this same year only twenty Roman-catholic publications appeared. The literature of Germany thus saw the light in the midst of struggles, contemporaneously with her religion. Already it appeared, as later times have seen it, learned, profound. full of boldness and activity. The national 1 Totam vero Juventutem, eloquentiæ litteris. linguarum que studio deditam....in partem suam traxit. Cochlous, D. 54. 2 Veteris farine. Panzer's Annalen der Deutsch. Litt.; Ranke's Deutsch. Gesch. ii. 79. had received secret intimation, concealed the books that it was intended to proscribe; and the multitude, ever eager for what is prohi bited, immediately bought them up, and read them with the greater avidity. It was not only in Germany that such scenes were passing; Luther's writings were translated into French, Spanish, English, and Italian, and circulated among these nations. CHAPTER XII. Luther at Zwickau-The Castle of Freyberg-WormsFrankfort-Universal Movement-Wittemberg the Centre of the Reformation-Luther's Sentiments. Ir the most puny instruments inflicted such terrible blows on Rome, what was it when the voice of the monk of Wittemberg was heard? Shortly after the discomfiture of the new prophets, Luther, in a layman's attire, traversed the territories of Duke George in a waggon. His gown was hidden, and the reformer seemed to be a plain country gentleman. If he had been recognised, if he had fallen into the hands of the exasperated duke, perhaps his fate would have been sealed. He was going to preach at Zwickau. 1 Apostatarum, monasteriis relictis, infinitus jam erat numerus, in speciem bibliopolarum. Cochlous. p. 54. 2 We have ventured to employ the words colporteur and colportage to express the title and trade of those itinerant booksellers. Besides the inadequacy of our English equiva lents, these words appear to be making their way into our Vocabulary. (Translator.) 3 Catholicorum, velut indocta et veteris barbarici trivia lia scripts, contemnebant. Cochlous, p. 54. 4 In publicis mercatibus Francofordiæ et alibi, vexabaŭ tur ac ridebantur. Ibid. the birthplace of the pretended prophets. It was no sooner known at Schneeberg, Annaberg, and the surrounding places, than the people crowded around him. Fourteen thousand persons flocked into the city, and as there was no church that could contain such numbers, Luther went into the balcony of the town-hall, and preached before an audience of twenty-five thousand persons who thronged the market-place, some of whom had mounted on heaps of cut stones piled up near the building. The servant of God was dilating with fervour on the election of grace, when suddenly cries were heard from the midst of the audience. An old woman of haggard mien, who had taken her station on a pile of stones, stretched out her emaciated arms, and seemed as though she would restrain with her fleshless hands the crowd that was about to fall prostrate at the feet of Jesus. Her wild yells interrupted the preacher. "It was the devil," said Seckendorff," who had taken the form of an old woman in order to excite a disturbance."2 But it was all in vain; the reformer's words silenced the wicked spirit, enthusiasm seized these listening thousands; glances of admiration were exchanged; hands were warmly grasped, and erelong the monks, confounded and unable to avert the storm, found it ne-day carried from one place to another, and cessary to leave Zwickau. ticism. A violent explosion took place in the court of Freyberg. Duke Henry harshly reprimanded and reproached his wife, and more than once the pious duchess watered her child's cradle with her tears. Yet by degrees her prayers and gentleness won the heart of her husband; the rough man was softened; harmony was restored between the married pair, and they were enabled to join in prayer beside their sleeping babe. Great destinies were hovering over that child; and from that cradle, where a christian mother had so often poured forth her sorrows, God was one day to bring forth the liberator of the Reformation. Luther's intrepidity had excited the inhabitants of Worms. The imperial decree terrified the magistrates; all the churches were closed; but in a public place, filled by an immense crowd, a preacher ascended a rudely constructed pulpit, and proclaimed the Gos pel with persuasive accents. If the authorities showed a disposition to interfere, the hearers dispersed in a moment, and stealthily carried away the pulpit; but the storm was no sooner passed, than it was immediately set up in some more secluded spot, to which the crowd again flocked to hear the Word of Christ. This temporary pulpit was every served to encourage the people, who were still agitated by the emotions of the great drama lately performed in their city.1 In the castle of Freyberg dwelt Henry, brother of Duke George. His wife, a princess of Mecklenburg, had the preceding year At Frankfort on the Maine, one of the borne him a son who had been named Mau- principal free cities of the empire, all was in rice. With a fondness for the table and for commotion. A courageous evangelist, Ibach, pleasure, Duke Henry combined the rude- preached salvation by Jesus Christ. The ness and coarse manners of a soldier. In clergy, among whom was Cochlous, so noother respects, he was pious after the fashion torious by his writings and his opposition, of the times, had gone to the Holy Land, and were irritated against this audacious colmade a pilgrimage to St. Iago of Compos- league, and denounced him to the Archbishop tella. He would often say: "At Compos- of Mentz. The council undertook his detella I placed a hundred golden florins on fence, although with timidity, but to no purthe altar of the saint, and said to him: O pose, for the clergy discharged the evangeSt. Iago, to please thee I came hither; Ilical minister, and compelled him to leave make thee a present of this money; but if these knaves (the priests) take it from thee, I cannot help it; so be on your guard." 3 A Franciscan and a Dominican, both disciples of Luther, had been for some time preaching the Gospel at Freyberg. The luchess, whose piety had inspired her with a horror of heresy, listened to their sermons in astonishment to find that this gentle message of a Saviour was the object she had been taught to fear. Gradually her eyes were opened, and she found peace in Christ Jesus. No sooner had Duke George learnt that the Gospel was preached at Freyberg, than he entreated his brother to oppose these Chancellor Strehlin and the canons seconded his prayer with their fana novelties. 1 Von dem Rathhaus unter einem Zulauf von 25,000 Men. schen. Seck. p. 539. Der Teufel indem er sich in Gestalt eines alten Welbes. Ibid. Lasst du dir's die Buben nehmen.... Ibid. p. 430. the town. Rome triumphed; every thing seemed lost; the poor believers fancied themselves for ever deprived of the Word; but at the very moment when the citizens appeared inclined to yield to these tyrannical priests, many nobles declared for the Gospel. Max of Molnheim, Harmuth of Cronberg, George of Stockheim, and Emeric of Reiffenstein, whose estates lay near Frankfort, wrote to the council: "We are constrained to rise up against these spiritual wolves." And addressing the clergy, they said: "Embrace the evangelical doctrine, recall Ibach, or else we will refuse to pay our tithes !" The people, who listened gladly to the Reformation, being encouraged by the language of the nobles, began to put themselves in motion; and one day, just as Peter Mayer, the persecutor of Ibach and the most determined enemy of the reform, was going to 1 So liessen sie eine Canzel machen, die man von einom Ort zum andern....Seck. p. 436. preach against the heretics, a great uproar was heard. Mayer was alarmed, and hastily quitted the church. This movement decided the council. All the preachers were enjoined by proclamation to preach the pure Word of God, or to leave the city. The light which proceeded from Wittemberg, as from the heart of the nation, was thus shedding its rays through the whole empire. In the west,-Berg, Cleves, Lippstadt, Munster, Wesel, Miltenberg, Mentz, Deux Ponts, and Strasburg, listened to the Gospel; on the south,-Hoff, Schlesstadt, Bamberg, Esslingen, Halle in Swabia, Heilbrunn, Augsburg, Ulm, and many other places, received it with joy. In the east,Pomerania, Prussia, and the duchy of Liegnitz, opened their gates to it; and in the north.-Brunswick, Halberstadt, Gosslar, Zell, Friesland, Bremen. Hamburg, Holstein, and even Denmark, with other neighbouring countries, were moved at the sounds of this new doctrine. The Elector Frederick had declared that he would allow the bishops to preach freely in his states, but that he would deliver no one into their hands. Accordingly, the evangelical teachers, persecuted in other countries, soon took refuge in Saxony. Ibach of Frankfort, Eberlin of Ulm, Kauxdorf of Magdeburg, Valentine Mustus, whom the canons of Halberstadt had horribly mutilated, and other faithful ministers, coming from all parts of Germany, fled to Wittemberg, as the only asylum in which they could be secure. Here they conversed with the reformers; at their feet they strengthened themselves in the faith; and communicated to them their own experience and the knowledge they had acquired. It is thus the waters of the rivers return by the clouds from the vast expanse of the ocean, to feed the glaciers whence they first descended to the plains. The work which was evolving at Wittemberg, and formed in this manner of many different elements, became more and more the work of the nation, of Europe, and of Christendom. This school, founded by Frederick, and quickened by Luther, was the centre of an immense revolution which regenerated the Church, and impressed on it a real and living unity far superior to the apparent unity of Rome. The Bible reigned at Wittemberg, and its oracles were heard on all sides. This academy, the most recent of all, had acquired that rank and influence in Christendom which had hitherto belonged to the ancient university of Paris. The crowds that flocked thither from every part of Europe made known the wants of the Church and of the nations; and as they quitted these walls, now become holy to them, they 1 Aliquot ministri canonicorum, capiunt D. Valentinum Mustæum ot vinctum manibus pedibusque, injecto in ejus os freno, deferunt per trabes in inferiores coenobii partes, ibique in cella cerevisiaria eum castrant. Hamelmann, Historia rena Evangelii, p. 8) carried back with them to the Church and the people the Word of Grace appointed to heal and to save the nations. Luther, as he witnessed this success, felt his confidence increase. He beheld this feeble undertaking, begun in the midst of so many fears and struggles, changing the aspect of the christian world, and was astonished at the result. He had foreseen nothing of the kind, when first he rose up against Tetzel. Prostrate before the God whom he adored, he confessed the work to be His, and exulted in the assuranc of a victory that could not be torn from him. enemies threaten us with death," said he to Harmuth of Cronberg; "if they had as much wisdom as foolishness, they would, on the contrary, threaten us with life. What an absurdity and insult to presume to threaten death to Christ and Christians, who are themselves lords and conquerors of death !1...... It is as if I would seek to frighten a man by saddling his horse and helping him to mount. Do they not know that Christ is risen from the dead? In their eyes he is still lying in the sepulchre; nay more-in hell. But we know that He lives." He was grieved at the thought that he was regarded as the author of a work, in whose minutest details he beheld the hand of God. Many believe because of me," said he. "But those alone truly believe, who would continue faithful even should they hear (which God forbid !) that I had denied Jesus Christ. True disciples believe not in Luther, but in Jesus Christ. As for myself, I do not care about Luther. Whether he is a saint or a knave, what matters it? It is not he that I preach; but Christ. If the devil can take him, let him do so! But let Christ abide with us, and we shall abide also." And vainly, indeed, would men endeavour to explain this great movement by mere human circumstances. Men of letters, it is true, sharpened their wits and discharged their keen-pointed arrows against the pope and the monks; the shout of liberty, which Germany had so often raised against the tyranny of the Italians, again resounded in the castles and provinces; the people were delighted with the song of "the nightingale of Wittemberg," a herald of the spring that was every where bursting forth. But it was not a mere outward movement, similar to that effected by a longing for earthly liberty, that was then accomplishing. Those whe assert that the Reformation was brought about by bribing the princes with the wealth of the convents,-the priests with permission to marry,—and the people with the prospect of freedom, are strangely mistaken in its nature. No doubt a useful employment of the funds that had hitherto supported the sloth of the monks; no doubt marriage and 1 Herren und Seigmänner des Todes. L. Epp. 11. 164. 2 Ich kenne auch selbst nicht den Luther. Ibid. 168. 3 Wittemberger Nachtigal!, a poeni by Hans Sachs, 1323 submitted. A national government had been framed in consequence, consisting of the Political Element-Want of Enthusiasm at Rome-Siege of imperial governor and representatives of the Pampeluna-Courage of Ignatius-Transition-Luther and Loyola-Visions-Two Principles. THE Reformation, which at first had existed in the hearts of a few pious men, had entered into the worship and the life of the Church; it was natural that it would take a new step, and penetrate into civil relationships and the life of nations. Its progress was always from the interior to the exterior. We are about to see this great revolution taking possession of the political life of the world. For eight centuries past, Europe had formed one vast sacerdotal state. Emperors and kings had been under the patronage of popes. Whenever any energetic resistance had been offered to her audacious pretensions, particularly in Germany and France, Rome had eventually prevailed, and princes, docile agents of her terrible decrees, had been seen fighting to secure her dominion against private believers obedient to their rule, and profusely shedding in her behalf the blood of their people's children. No injury could be inflicted on this vast ecclesiastical state, of which the pope was the head, without affecting the political relations. electors and circles. Thus Luther reformed the Church, and Frederick of Saxony reformed the State. But while, simultaneously with the religious reform, important political modifications were introduced by the leaders of the nation, it was to be feared that the commonalty would also put itself in motion, and by its excesses, both in politics and religion, compromise both reforms. This violent and fanatical intrusion of the people and of certain ringleaders, which seems inevitable where society is shaken and in a state of transition, did not fail te take place in Germany at the period of which we are now treating. There were other circumstances also that contributed to give rise to such disorders. The emperor and the pope had combined against the Reformation, and it seemed on the point of falling beneath the blows of two such powerful enemies. Policy, ambition, and interest compelled Charles V. and Leo X. to attempt its destruction. But these are poor champions to contend against the truth. Devotedness to a cause which is looked upon as sacred can only be conquered by a similar devotedness. But the Romans, yielding to the impulses of a Leo X., were enthusiastic about a sonnet or a melody, but insensible to the religion of Jesus Christ; and if any less futile thought came across their minds, instead of purifying and tempering their hearts anew in the Christianity of the aposThe Elector Frederick had insisted on thistles, they were busied with alliances, wars, latter point at the election of Maximilian's successor; and the youthful Charles had Two great ideas then agitated Germany. On the one hand, a desire for a revival of faith; and on the other, a longing for a national government, in which the German states might be represented, and thus serve as a counterpoise to the power of the emperors. 1 Piefel Droit publ. de l'Allemagne, 590. Robertson, Char V. ill. 114 Ranke, Deutsche Gesch. conquests, and treaties, which gained new provinces, and with cold disdain left the Reformation to awaken on all sides a religious enthusiasm, and to march triumphantly |
